


Everything I do, I do it for you

by Marittimo



Series: There's always a space in my heart for you [4]
Category: 24 (TV)
Genre: M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29221110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marittimo/pseuds/Marittimo
Summary: Jack had made sure everything was perfect: all the candles were lit and the pastries he had bought had chilled in the fridge for some hours and were now set elegantly on the table. A bouquet completed the picture. Red roses, like the ones Tony had gifted him as an apology for leaving months before.Glancing over at the tiny teddy bear plushie holding a heart that sat on the table right in front of him, Jack wondered if he had overdone this.
Relationships: Tony Almeida/Jack Bauer
Series: There's always a space in my heart for you [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042143
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Everything I do, I do it for you

Jack had made sure everything was perfect: all the candles were lit and the pastries he had bought had chilled in the fridge for some hours and were now set elegantly on the table. A bouquet completed the picture. Red roses, like the ones Tony had gifted him as an apology for leaving months before. God, it seemed so long ago...  
Glancing over at the tiny teddy bear plushie holding a heart that sat on the table right in front of him, Jack wondered if he had overdone this.

"What do you think? Is it too much?" He asked turning to Jingle. The cat just looked at him, her gaze as judging as ever.  
"Yeah, maybe you're right." He realized nodding, but decided not to change anything about it.

He was still too lost in his thoughts to hear it when Tony came back from work, parked the car and came in, and Jack realized he was there only as Tony walked up to him and rested his hand on his shoulder. "Hey." He greeted him.  
"Tony!" Jack said coming back to the present, turning around.

But as Jack tried to meet his eyes Tony wasn't looking at him. No, he was watching all that Jack had got for him, mouth opened in a surprised expression.  
"Happy Valentine's day." Jack said, smiling up at him.  
"Love, this is..." Tony stopped, at a loss for words as he walked to the table and gently brushed his fingertips over the roses' petals, then noticed the teddy bear and it made him smile even more.

Jack got up then, and walked up to him, holding Tony's waist from behind. "You like what I got you?" He whispered against his skin as he kissed his lover's neck.

"Of course!" Tony replied. "I don't even know what to say, thank you Jack. Thank you so much."  
Tony turned around then, breaking the hug. "I've got something for you too." He confessed as he took out a wrapped package from his messenger bag and handed it to Jack. "Come on, open it." He encouraged him with a warm smile, waiting excited for his reaction.

Jack obliged, ripping the wrapping paper away to reveal its gift, and Jack gasped softly, surprised.  
In the box stood an album, two photos on its front cover: the first one Jack holding Jingle for the first time, and the second one a slightly out of focus Tony lazying on the couch smiling at the camera.  
It was Jack's favorite.

He remembered well the day he had taken it. It had been the third rainy day in a row and Jack had sighed frustrated. Tony had turned to him, asking what was wrong.  
"It's the damn weather." He had answered, shaking his head. "I really wanted to spend a nice weekend together since we're both not working and God knows when the next time it'll happen will be. I had so many plans for us, I wanted to go out somewhere, have a good time..."  
But Tony had been quick to reassure him, getting up and wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder. "I don't need to go anywhere to have a good time, you know." He had assured him, smiling genuinely. "I'm happy to just have you here with me, spend some time together."  
Jack had stopped then, his annoyance fading immediately, and something had warmed up inside him as he had realized Tony had really meant that.

He had taken that picture minutes after, deciding that would have been a good way to pass the time while they couldn't go out.

"Our photos..." Jack said in disbelief, looking up at Tony excited. Tony smiled at his reaction. "Yeah, I got some of them developed. It's just a few pages for now, hoping we'll get to fill it up. It'll be the diary of our life together." Tony explained, smiling proudly. "Let's sit down and go through them, what do you say?"  
"Sounds great." Jack nodded, and they moved to the couch, laying down together, Tony resting his head on Jack's chest, the steady rhythm of his heart echoing in his head a familiar and relaxing sound.

The album started with some older photos of them, of their times at CTU, when after a hard day of work most of them met for a drink together or for the occasional night out with their colleagues.  
Tony had thought a lot about whether he should have included them or not, but then decided they deserved a spot in there just as much as any other photo.

CTU was where they had first met after all, and those evenings were when their friendship had started. Without those moments they would never have gotten so close that Tony would have worried for him that day months ago. Without those moments maybe Tony wouldn't even have cared that much when he'd hear about the former coworker that had killed himself, too devastated by his wife's death.  
He would have pitied him maybe, but it would have been forgotten in a matter of weeks, if not even days.

No, Tony had realized. He couldn't have left them out. Those photos were as precious to him as those memories were, and Tony cherished them with all his heart.

Luckily Jack didn't seem to mind them, but was rather amused by them. "This was such a fun time." He remembered, pointing at one of them. "Oh, and here's the time we managed to get Mason wasted right after he said he'd never drink with us again after what had happened the month before."  
"God, he was so out of it." Tony agreed, smiling at the memory. "Remember when we dragged him to that karaoke stage and he delivered the worst rendition of _All along the watchtower_ right before throwing up and passing out in it?"  
Jack laughed heartily. "How could I forget it? He wanted to fire you for filming that."  
Tony nodded, chuckling. "It would still have been worth it."

Next came some pictures of Tony's beloved plants, and although they might have looked quite unremarkable and boring they were still something Tony had wanted to put in the album. They were the first photos he had taken in Jack's house. _Their_ house, Tony reminded himself. After all, they captured the day he had officially moved in.  
"Remember that day?" Tony asked, turning to meet Jack's eyes. "When you said you didn't want to ever be photographed?"  
Jack chuckled at the memory, but said nothing as he turned to the next page; he always hated admitting he'd been wrong.

They were looking at the Christmas photos now. It had been the first time Jack hadn't avoided the camera, resigning to let Tony take some pictures of him, but it was clear he was still somehow uncomfortable with it.

"Now, _this_ was a great time." Jack said as he saw the next photos, his eyes widening. There were so many they spread over 4 pages.  
They showed them both on their knees, first Jack then Tony, the same desire mirrored on each other's faces.

"Do you like them in black and white?" Tony asked, hearing Jack's heartbeat quickening as his mind went back to that day. They'd have to do something like that again, Tony reasoned. Maybe he'd get to blindfold Jack this time...  
"Yes. It makes it look even more sensual." Jack answered, effectively distracting Tony from his thoughts.

Jack lingered on those photos for a while longer, loving how even the ones he had taken looked. "We should definitely do something like this again." Jack said after a while, and Tony nodded, agreeing.

Jack forced his eyes away from them and turned to the next page, smiling as he saw what the next photos were. "I really like these ones too." He commented with a smile.  
In one of them Jack was walking into their room with a tray of food in his hands, in another Jack was simply laying next to him, too focused on the book he was reading to notice the camera in Tony's hands, in yet another one Jack was napping on the sofa with Jingle sleeping on his lap.

"After you came back from the hospital I was so happy to see you start taking photos again." Jack confessed. "It brought back your smile when you were confined in the house."  
" _You_ brought my smile back." Tony said, leaning into him to lay a light kiss on his neck.

"Well, that's it." Tony said regretfully as Jack turned to the next page and it was blank.  
"Yeah..." Jack nodded, closing the album and resting it on the coffee table, then turning to Tony once again, running a hand through his hair. "We should get started and take some new ones then, don't you think?"

Tony chuckled. "Sounds good, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait."  
"Uh?" Jack turned to him questioningly at that, furrowing his brows. "There's something else I want to do first, and I'm sure you'll agree with me on it." He explained as he got up from the couch and walked away.

He came back soon after with the tray of pastries, and Jack smiled enthusiastically. He then was quick to tackle him and steal one away from the tray.  
They spent the rest of the evening lazying on the couch and watching some tv, getting up only to get the few pastries left away from Jingle's claws.

As Tony went to put them back in the fridge Jack sighed, satisfied.  
For the first time in months life was good, he realized, and he had a feeling it would continue to be.


End file.
